


You're dating who??

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Crack, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29017914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: When you mix a secret relationship and secret identities, things get really complicated.Or this is the fic where Alya goes through the whole love square believing there are four different relationships and always ends up accusing Adrien of two-timing Marinette.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 63
Kudos: 231





	1. The scandal

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted something silly after the latest angst. This happened. Ha-ha.

The hardest part of secret relationships was being so close to your boyfriend and having to pretend that you’re not together. This was what Marinette thought until that fateful morning when everything turned upside down.

The moment Alya walked into their classroom and Marinette saw the expression on her face, she steeled herself for trouble.

“I’m so sorry, girl, really sorry!” Her friend said instead of a greeting. Marinette had no idea what was going on since she couldn’t remember anything bad happening recently, at least to her knowledge. In fact, she’d been preparing to wow Alya with the fact that she and Adrien were together and she could celebrate. Now this.

“What happened?”

“So, you know how Adrien wasn’t at school yesterday,” Alya began, looking at something on her phone. Marinette still didn’t know what this meant, but she definitely didn’t like the direction it was going.

“Yes.”

“So me and Nino went around to the mansion to bring him his homework. We had something to explain to his father’s assistant, so we were allowed to go inside. We were just leaving and happened to look at the windows of Adrien’s room and do you know what?” Alya was trying not to sound excited but she wasn't successful, while all Marinette felt was dread. Even before she saw the photo on her friend’s phone.

A photo of her, leaving Adrien’s room as Ladybug. Kissing him goodbye. 

_Damn._

They actually looked really good and she could remember that last kiss so clearly. But this was not what mattered now! This is what she got for not being able to stay away from her boyfriend. Just great.

“I’m really sorry! I know this is seriously bad for you, but can you imagine it? Adrien and Ladybug? Do you think he’s the guy she’s been turning Chat Noir down for all this time? Like, wow!” It was clear that Alya was torn between feeling sorry for Marinette and being thrilled by this latest development.

“Wait, you haven’t posted this online, right?” Marinette somehow managed to ask. First things first, she had to know the extent of the damage.

“No. I don’t think it will be good for Ladybug and also imagine the scandal for Adrien! But do you think I should?”

Marinette silently thanked all the stars for this fortunate turn of events. One less thing to worry about. 

“No, you did the right call. This is something private.”

“You don’t look as crushed as I expected you to be,” Alya noted, watching her carefully.

“Well, I…” But before she could say anything in her defence, there was Adrien. Smiling widely and marching towards her with determination. 

She tried to signal to him that they weren’t going through with their plan in light of the latest information. But he must have mistaken her expression for last-minute jitters so he didn’t even pause before leaning in and kissing her. On the lips. In front of everyone. And Alya.

“What the hell is this?” she asked. 

“Well, me and Marinette are together,” he replied, completely unperturbed by Alya’s hostile tone and totally missing the panicked look on his girlfriend's face. Marinette saw her friend look confused from one to the other and could predict her reaction even before it happened.

“Alya, can I please talk to Adrien first?” She asked, trying to keep the peace for just a minute longer while she could bring her boyfriend up to speed.

“If you need me, I’m here,” Alya said. “I’m watching you, Agreste,” she hissed in his direction. 

_Oh dear, it’s going to be a long day_ , Marinette thought.

This was the moment she realised that she’d really had it easy until now. 

*

“What was this about?” Adrien asked, looking over his shoulder as they left the room under the excuse of going to the library to pick up something last-minute. 

“So, you know how you kind of kissed Ladybug yesterday?” Marinette started, while looking around to make sure no one was listening.

“You,” he corrected her, obviously confused by her phrasing.

“Well, Alya saw you kissing Ladybug,” Marinette replied, stressing the last word again. He stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes. 

“Damn,” he muttered. 

“Yeah, this is what I thought as well. You could have dodged that if I’d managed to warn you that we’re not revealing our relationship today of all days,” she apologised. 

“How are we getting out of this?” He asked as they finally reached the library.

“Well, it’s safe to say that Alya probably thinks you’re two-timing me,” Marinette said, wincing.

“Hell, I don’t care about that. As long as you know that this is not the truth,” he said, shrugging. Marinette smiled softly at him. He was true to form, not caring about his reputation at all.

“The good thing is she’s not planning on making your thing with Ladybug public,” she said. She could only hope this was still true.

“Phew. That’s really good.”

“So if you’re willing to go with the two-timing option, we can get away with just breaking up?” She grimaced. 

“As opposed to revealing your identity to her. Well, I can live with that.”

“So much for revealing our relationship and being able to be together out in the open,” she sighed. 

“Hey, it could be worse. It’s not like we’re breaking up for real, right?” He asked with half a smile. 

“I really hope it won’t come to that. As long as we are more careful.”

“Yes, we should really try that.” He gave her hand a squeeze and they headed back. Marinette felt lighter when she had a plan. It looked like they’d avoided the worst. 

For now.


	2. When you think it can't get more complicated...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alya catches Marinette and Chat being too friendly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dissolving into pure crack and I have no regrets!

The short-lived relationship between Marinette and Adrien had been explained without any fights erupting. No one had been happy. Alya most of all, but closely followed by Nino, who was also in on the whole thing after all and wasn’t doing a good job of hiding his disappointment with his best friend’s duplicitousness. For the rest of the class it was just a misunderstanding that had nipped their romance at the bud. Yeah, they now knew that it hadn’t been a good idea to make such a public reveal but who could have expected that it would turn out like that?

Now Marinette had to pretend to be hurt and to stay away from Adrien. She also felt bad for him because he was accused of something he hadn’t done and shunned by his friends because of it. She knew they would come around eventually, because she’d explained that it had happened very early on (which was a lie) and she wasn’t mad at him (which was true). But unsurprisingly they were taking her side in all this, leaving poor Adrien all alone.

So she’d gone from trying to keep her hands off her boyfriend at school to trying not to look lovingly at him and basically it was the same old thing, excluding all the drama in between. But while before they’d tried to avoid being caught together knowing that if they eventually were it wouldn’t be such a problem, now they couldn’t even sneak around for a secret kiss. Marinette didn’t want to imagine her friends’ reaction if she was to go back to Adrien after supposedly breaking up with him over his unfaithfulness. The scandal!

They knew they needed to be more careful, they'd seen in action the disaster that could unfold otherwise. So when she saw him arrive as Chat one afternoon, Marinette was torn between scolding him and welcoming him with open arms. She missed him, she wanted just a few minutes with him, but she knew it was dangerous. 

She hesitated for a whole second before the stupid hormones took over and she was all over him, kissing him. 

Marinette knew (from experience) that even when you thought you were being secretive, you never knew who was watching so it was a risk. But she was at home, where she was supposed to feel safe and it was only for a minute. Ok, a few. Damn, why did kissing Adrien have to be so addictive? 

“Marinette?”

If only Alya had called to her before going outside, they would have had time to spring apart and pretend they were just, well, talking. No such luck.

They knew even before they separated that it was too late. She was looking at them with wide eyes, having already opened the hatch without them hearing her, halfway out on the balcony. They stood frozen for a second and Marinette seriously contemplated saying that this had been a friendly kiss. But even when they were not kissing, just from the way they were intertwined, one could tell that they were far from only friendly with each other. And she was pretty sure Alya had seen more than that.

Marinette sighed, pulling back from Adrien.

“Go,” she told him as he looked at her helplessly. He wouldn’t be much help if he stayed and he had to go anyway. She’d have to deal with this on her own. 

“Sorry,” he mouthed at her, his eyes full of concern and regret, before he turned around and left.

“My, my, you didn’t waste your time,” Alya whistled. Marinette shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, while her cheeks were burning. “I was expecting to find you sobbing your heart out over your disastrous love story and instead I find you in the arms of none other than Chat Noir!”

Alya had been expecting to find Marinette like that for a week now and she couldn’t explain to her why this wouldn’t happen. At least she now had a good enough reason.

“Well, you know… it was just a kiss,” Marinette mumbled.

“Just a kiss? Girl, this definitely looked like more than a kiss. The air was sizzling!" Just when Marinette had been thinking that she couldn't blush any harder. "But wait. Are you using the guy as a rebound? I wouldn’t blame you, he’s smoking hot, but isn’t this not fair to him?”

Before Marinette could say anything (and what was she supposed to say to that?), Alya continued.

“What happened to Ladybug who he was in love with?”

_ He is still in love with her, _ Marinette thought. 

“Do you think he knows about Adrien?” Her friend asked, deep in thought.  _ He definitely does _ . At this point, it was a challenge not to burst out laughing. 

“About me being with Adrien or Ladybug being with Adrien?” Marinette asked, biting back a smile. 

“Both, I guess? Both of you seem to have moved on quite quickly.” She had no idea. “Seriously, what was this?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Marinette groaned. “We kissed as you saw. That’s it.”

“But you like him?” Alya suggested with a sly smile, no doubt sensing the opportunity to finally see her friend happy.

“Yes,” Marinette admitted. She couldn’t lie about that.

“Well, good for you. I can’t wait to see how jealous Adrien will be when he hears about this. Frankly, Chat Noir is so much better than him,” Alya concluded. 

Marinette would make sure to tell him that. It was undoubtedly funny.

‘Now. Tell me who is a better kisser,” her friend said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. This was when Marinette lost it and to her amazement started laughing. “Come on, you can tell me.”

“You know, it’s really hard for me to tell,” she said once she calmed down. No kidding, they were the same person after all.

As the two settled down to gossip, Marinette realised this hadn’t been so bad. Maybe if Alya thought that she was happy with someone else, Adrien would be finally off the hook and Marinette would have no need to pretend to be sad. 

Things were finally looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or were they?


	3. ... and it does

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya catches her favourite superhero duo and has a go at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knew what was coming, so it's no surprise but I hope the ending will be 😏

Adrien had, just as expected, laughed a lot when Marinette told him about her talk with Alya. Then it had been his turn to pretend. Alya didn’t miss her chance to gloat, telling him all about the “new hunk” that Marinette had by her side. Bless her, she really cared about the superheroes’ safety because she told nobody who the mysterious guy was, only that there was one.

Marinette had been trying to stop herself from laughing out loud while Adrien had somehow managed to keep a solemn expression, telling her that he was happy for her.

*

Trying to stay as professional as possible during a fight was one of Marinette’s requirements from the very beginning and this didn’t change when her partner became her boyfriend. They knew how much they risked if it was known that they were more than just superhero partners. 

It was hard, but not impossible to stick to this rule. But sometimes it became excruciating. After seeing Adrien get hurt and having to spend the next half an hour fighting a villain while trying to protect him and not be angry at him for insisting on being by her side, Marinette felt exhausted not only physically, but mentally as well. 

So when the fight was over and they headed to a dark alley to detransform, Adrien already Miraculously cured, she was just a tad more careless than usual. He was joking about something, trying to lift her spirits, but she just wanted to shrug off the pretence and be herself - a girl who had been infinitely worried and then relieved to see the guy that she loved alright. 

Before she could think about how dangerous it was, she grabbed his bell and dragged him down for a kiss mid-joke. He was surprised, but quickly melted into her, his arms closing around her. She needed that, just a kiss, an instant shot of happiness for her system.

And then a flash and a shout.

“I can’t believe this!” 

They sprung apart, turning shocked to see Alya, who was holding her phone, no doubt having another incriminating photo of them, and looking positively livid.

Of course, she now had no reason to be happy for her favourite superheroes getting together, Marinette remembered.  _ Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…  _

“How could you?” Alya spat at Adrien. “You’re a superhero, someone people should look up to and here you are, kissing Ladybug behind Marinette’s back. How could I believe that you’d forgotten about your big love? You were obviously just leading her on.”

Adrien was looking at her with his mouth gaping, no words to deny the accusations or to defend himself - the perfect image of someone being caught red handed. Marinette felt sorry for him, now not only his civilian image was tainted in Alya’s eyes, but also his superhero persona.

“To think that I had such a high opinion of you! I rooted for you, I wanted you to get with Ladybug! Then I was happy that you’d decided to move on and was with Marinette since she’s a wonderful person and you make a surprisingly good couple. And for what? Just to catch you cheating on her!”

Marinette just stood there, trying to resist the instinct to defend her boyfriend. She had too much experience in doing this already, it just wasn’t fair.

“And you!” Alya said, making her jump when she turned her fiery gaze to her. “I know about you and Adrien! Yes, he’s a two-timing liar, but even he doesn’t deserve to have something like this happen behind his back! You should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be my idol, but not anymore!”

With this, Alya whirled around and marched out of the alley, leaving them alone. 

The moment their eyes met, they started laughing. A full-on belly laughter that the too absurd situation warranted. With tears streaming down their faces and their bellies aching, they leaned on each other trying to catch their breath.

“Goodness. How did I end up being accused of cheating on you in both guises?” Adrien wheezed. “My reputation is totally ruined!”

“Don’t forget that I’m in the same spot as you this time. Cheating on Paris’ sunshine model. The scandal!”

They continued laughing even after making sure that no one was watching and they could transform. 

“Can we tell Alya the truth?” Adrien asked, while wiping his eyes. “I really feel bad for her. She doesn’t deserve to be caught in the fire like that, thinking everyone is a cheater.” 

“Well, I guess we can ask the kwamis about their opinion. And after we listen to their lecture,” she said, wincing as she imagined how humiliating it would be, “we’ll decide what to do.” 

*

“So, we have something to tell you,” Marinette said, looking at Alya and Nino. The four of them were in her room as she and Adrien had decided that they’d need to tell Nino as well instead of waiting for his girlfriend to share the secret with him. 

“You’re getting back together now that your superhero partners are cheating on you with each other?” Alya said dryly, eyes moving between them as they stood ramrod straight before them. Of course she’d showed them the photo of them kissing, the latest one, swearing them to secrecy but saying she couldn’t stand to see them being lied to. They had both been in the position of pretending to be hurt. 

A beat of silence.

“Why didn’t we think of this?” Marinette hissed at Adrien out of the corner of her mouth. It could have been a perfect solution for them!

“Because we decided something else,” he said, looking pointedly at her.

Now that she thought about it, it would have been only a short-term solution. Until the next time they messed up. Sigh.

“No, it’s something else, much more important. Which you should keep a secret,” Marinette told Alya and Nino. “Ready?” She asked Adrien and after his nod they transformed together. 

“Holy-!” Alya exclaimed, looking at them wide-eyed. “Was I really this stupid?”

“It’s our fault or more specifically, my fault, I’m sorry,” Adrien said, looking down at his feet.

“What?” Marinette asked, totally forgetting that they had just revealed themselves to Alya.

“Well, you know, it was me who dragged you back into my room for a kiss before you left, causing this whole mess in the first place,” he said. “And it was me who didn’t read the room before going in for the kiss in front of everyone when it was obviously not the right time. I even came to visit you as Chat after that.”

Marinette took his hand in hers, making him look at her.

“Well, I’m equally to blame since it was me who kissed you as Chat. Er, both times. You just played along,” she said. It was true, they had both messed up and she couldn’t let him take the blame.

“This will be our life from now on, right?” They heard Alya said, interrupting the soft smile they were sharing. Oops? They had given her time to get over the initial shock while being busy. 

“Totally,” Nino said, looking at them with a grin.

“You’re not mad at us?” Marinette asked. 

“For being in love? For not being able to keep your hands off each other? For having a secret you have to protect? No,” Alya concluded with a smile. 

Marinette heard the sigh of relief from Adrien and echoed it. 

“We felt really bad, so we asked the kwamis and they said we could tell you. After all, you know how important keeping this a secret is,” he told their friends. 

“Yes, we know. And we’re very grateful,’ Alya said. She shot a look at her boyfriend and then added. “We will even help you to get this right so you can be finally together in the open the way you were trying to be.”

“What, really?” Marinette exclaimed. This was better than anything they’d hoped for.

“We can think of something to explain to the others as for why you’re back together. Skipping the small part that you’d never actually broken up. We’re happy for you. This time for real, right, no cheating business,” Alya warned them and they all laughed. 

“Absolutely,” Marinette said, looking at Adrien with a grin that was matched on his face. And then they kissed, just like that, because they could. It felt wonderful.

“And that’s our cue to leave,” they heard Alya say and well, the laughter kind of ruined the kiss, but it was ok. There were going to be many more.


End file.
